Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka

I was in Charleston, SC for a wedding recently and the big drink down there is called a Sweet Tea. What this is, and hold your gag reflex, is a sweet tea flavored vodka with lemonade, a twist on the Arnold Palmer. It surprisingly was very good and did a little research on the vodka brand, Firefly, to see if they sold any in Chicago, but they do not. Has anyone else ran across a sweet tea flavored vodka or thought about making their own? Just wondering if anyone had thoughts on this or how to do this.

Shaggywillis wrote:It surprisingly was very good

Was it surprisingly good at first blush or after the 5th one?

Please clarify once more. A vodka flavored w/sweet tea from the distiller (i.e. Absolut Citron) or sweet tea which is prevelent throughout the south, mixed w/vodka and lemonade as an ingrd?

Jazzfood wrote:Please clarify once more. A vodka flavored w/sweet tea from the distiller (i.e. Absolut Citron) or sweet tea which is prevelent throughout the south, mixed w/vodka and lemonade as an ingrd?

It appears to be the former (sweet tea-infused vodka).

Charleston City Paper wrote:It's created by adding a tea concentrate, sweetened with cane sugar, to the alcohol. Firefly is part of a much larger infusion trend; brands from Van Gogh to Absolut have created all kinds of flavors, from light and rich to tart and sweet.

Surprised none of my liquor reps tried to sell it to me. I just came back from 6 mos in the south where I'm selling quite a lot of sweet tea (Luzianne w/too much simple syrup added) only to hear about it here on LTH the day after I get home. It's a good idea though which I will promptly incorporate. The good ole boys will love it.

I frequently drink a dirty Arnold Palmer. 4oz Tea, 4oz Lemonade, and 4oz Raspberry or Citron vodka. Very yummy on a warm day, not so sure in the fall.

Another fun one is a St Joesph's (called so because after about six of them a friend remarked they tasted similar to children's aspirin). 8oz pink lemonade and 4oz orange flavored vodka. Personally, I happen to think they taste similat to orange Pez!

i just returned from a trip to visit my family in south carolina, and had my first experience with the firefly sweet tea vodka. it's made from tea leaves grown on wadmalaw island in s.c. (which, i'm told, is the only tea native to the u.s. - is that possible?) per bottle instructions, mix equal parts sweet tea vodka and water, pour over ice, garnish with lemon (or mint), and enjoy. although i am a native south carolinian (and lover of sweet tea - luzianne only, please), i was dubious, to say the very least. but i found it to be pretty darn good. not too sweet, with a definite brewed tea taste. i'm getting a bottle or two for my annual southern new year's day supper.

Was it surprisingly good at first blush or after the 5th one?

Ha, maybe after the fifth.

So, two weekends ago I decided to make my own and it wasn't half bad. I brewed Luzianna tea, sweatened it with Agave and let it cool. I then poured a bottle of Stoli in the mixture (about 3 cups tea with one bottle vodka) and let it sit for a week. This weekend I poured myself a glass with some lemonande and I could easily see this being a nice summer drink. It wasn't half bad, I believe I added a little more tea to my drink and just sort of played around with the proportions.

Edit: Now that I think about this, I added a lot more than 3 cups of tea. Honestly, I think it was about 6 cups, three 2 cup pours. Oh who knows, I think I sampled the vodka before I started making the infusion.

with the right concoction i'm sure it can make a good martini... maybe a little triple sec would be good with it too!

...there's a green tea vodka i've seen around... good stuff ...

I just recently discovered this concoction too on a trip back home. Friends were drinking it straight or on the rocks while tailgating before a football game.

Curious, I checked the company's website. Judge & Dolph is their distributor here in Illinois. You may want to check with them as to where its available. I understand that 3 Olives sells a similar product.

I realize this is very old thread, but I have seen this at Binny's in case you are still looking for it.

I'm from South Carolina. It's been my sister's favorite for a while. Always noted as FFSTV on her Facebook entries.

Was pleased to see this stuff finally hit our market, it became a favorite on the golf course over the summer...my friends were blown away at how dangerously smooth and tasty it is. The Jeremiah Weed brand is damn good too; I believe they're within a couple bucks of each other for a fifth.

Seagrams has it as well. The Holiday Club has it. We sampled quite a few versions. Mixed w/lemonade, very easy to drink.